FWC NAMES BURTON 2004 OFFICER OF THE YEAR

March 17, 2005
CONTACT: Gary Morse (863) 648-3203

Photo of Burton and wife

Grant Burton, a law enforcement officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in Manatee and Sarasota counties has been named by the agency as its outstanding officer of the year for 2004. The annual award honors an individual FWC Officer whose efforts during the previous year showed outstanding performance and achievement among the state agency’s 700-plus sworn law enforcement officers.

“Officer Burton was selected for the honor based on his dedication, professionalism, effectiveness in enforcing the law, and personal demeanor with the public and those he works with. His exemplary leadership skills all underscore the traits that this agency covets in its officers,” said Lt. Rob Gerkin, an FWC law enforcement supervisor and Burton’s boss in Sarasota County.

Gerkin said Burton’s qualifications as an officer are exceptional. Since becoming an FWC officer in December of 2001, Burton has distinguished himself by becoming a select member of the FWC’s Special Operations Group (SOG), an elite force that trains for tactical operations that require unique skills. SOG team members perform specialized search-and-rescue operations and homeland security details in addition to their other duties. Officers apply for, and are selected, to this prestigious group only after passing through a series of thorough interviews and rigorous physical tests. Burton is also a field-training officer (FTO), responsible for training and evaluating new officers.

The young officer is noted for his skill in organizing special enforcement details and has earned notoriety for life-saving efforts involving boaters, law enforcement officers from other agencies and even a movie theater customer. Burton was one of the first officers to volunteer for duty after Hurricane Charlie, cutting trees and delivering food and water to those cut off by the storm, coming back early from a scheduled vacation to do so.

Officer Burton’s life-saving efforts include the rescue of three stranded boaters last October. The trio were found in near-death condition, clinging to a buoy in the middle of Sarasota Bay after their vessel had capsized 12 hours earlier. The Longboat Key Police Dept. honored Burton and several other FWC officers involved with a Life-Saving Medal for their heroic rescue.

Burton’s SOG team unit was recently dispatched to the Super Bowl in Jacksonville to provide waterborne security for the event. He will be receiving a commendation for jumping into a sinking vessel to save an exhausted Duval County deputy when the deputy’s boat collided with a bridge piling. Burton and a fellow FWC officer are credited with saving the lives of this deputy and another who was severely injured in the accident.

Working off duty at a local movie theater in Sarasota last year, Burton administered CPR to an elderly gentleman whose heart had stopped. According to EMS personnel on scene, Burton’s actions saved the man’s life.

Though Burton makes cases on land on a regular basis, the four-year agency veteran spends the majority of his time on the water, patrolling in search of illegal net fishermen. Burton remembers his first case involving illegal netting.

“It was about midnight and I was just pulling into the docks at the Sarasota Yacht Club in my patrol boat when I noticed some suspicious activity. A boat without navigation lights was easing along close to a nearby seawall. I positioned my vessel close by, turned on my spotlight and hit the blue light.

Jackpot!

There they were, as big as life, three net fishermen with more than 2,000 pounds of illegally taken mullet and 500 yards of gill net on board. The three occupants jumped out of the vessel and tried to run for it, but as they did, I was able to apprehend the vessel operator. I was a rookie and this was my first big net case. Needless to say, I got pretty excited during the ordeal. But then I had to pick all those fish out of the net,” said Burton with a sheepish grin.

Because of his ingenuity and perseverance in working net limitation details, his supervisors credit Burton with fostering a high compliance rate among the area’s commercial net fishermen. Burton has used some unique approaches in his quest to enforce state fisheries regulations. On several very cold and wet nights, Burton used a personal watercraft, braving the elements, to deter illegal netters.

Before Burton came to work as an FWC officer, he served a four-year tour of duty with the U.S. Navy. As an operations specialist, his personal expertise in maintaining navigation and combat information systems was in high demand. Stationed aboard the USS Thorn, a Spruence-class destroyer, he excelled and was put in charge of a maintaining complex radar system, answering directly to the admiral in command of the battle group.

Burton was born and raised in Ft. Myers. He played tennis on his high school team and likes to fish inshore for redfish and sea trout in his spare time. His wife’s name is Pam and they have been married two years. Pam is a Tallahassee native and a graduate of Santa Fe Community College.

GM/hpc/CR

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